Posts Tagged ‘seatbelts’

Just about the number one job of any parent is to keep our kids safe. We teach them not to take candy from strangers, we tell them to stay away from drugs and cigarettes, and we make sure they wear a helmet when riding a bicycle and a seat belt when riding in the car.

But we can’t be with them every moment of every day — sometimes we just have to let go and trust in what we’ve taught them and in the competence and responsibility of those to whom we entrust them. Whether they’re in the watchful care of a teacher, a fellow parent, or a family member, we have to believe that that person will work as hard as you do to keep them safe — or at least as hard as they do for their own kids. But what if that’s not enough?

When I was growing up, my siblings and I were absolutely required to wear seatbelts at all times when traveling in a car. Considering the way my mother drove, that’s a very good thing. Back then, it was a matter of personal choice; today it’s the law. Electronic signs along the freeways I drive to work proclaim “click it or ticket”, the slogan law enforcement agencies are using to remind people to wear their seatbelts and officers are indeed handing out tickets for failing to comply. As one Texas ten-year-old found out, that applies to kids as well as adults.